From This Height

The wind takes me farther than it used to.

Starting out, my flights were very short.  Just a hop, and a flap, which occasionally caught the air and made me giggle with a slight lift.  From then it was a game – jump facing the airflow, beat wings, repeat.  I laughed as I fell, most times…

My frustration with the inconstant breeze made me tenacious, and canny.  I learned how to play with the airflow and catch it just right.  I made small adjustments in my wing feathers, and, sure enough, my flights went higher and my trips got longer.  On one such journey I remember seeing everything I had ever known between my wing tips – my tree, that field, our lake, the road. 

Now the wind is stronger - and so am I.  From this height the great span of nature is visible, and from the corner of my eye I can just detect the curve of the earth.